Chapter Twenty Three - Progress
Lincoln's P.O.V -
Milo's mum ended up not letting us visit until the next day much to my dismay. When it turned eight O'clock I deemed the time appropriate to go to the hospital, as did my dad who was dressed to see my mum.
I haven't seen my mum yet, it took hours for her to let my dad in. She panicked initially which was expected, it's the same thing she did last time. My mum was rightfully scared of all the men which came near her, so far my dad was only allowed to sit in a chair against the opposite wall to my mum.
I didn't let my dad come to Idaho with us because I know he acts recklessly when it comes to my mum. He wasn't happy about my decision but he went along with it. I didn't bother waking up Wyatt because I knew he wouldn't want to get up this early.
My dad dove to the pack hospital quickly. We decided to put Milo in the pack hospital instead of a human hospital as this meant they wouldn't have to pay for Milo's care. All expenses from the clinic are paid for by the pack, this way no one was left in debt.
The clinic wasn't very large considering that werewolves rarely get sick or injured. A lot of the clinic was dedicated to maternity as the most common patients are pregnant women. However right now it was full to capacity because of the recent battle.
"We're here." My dad quickly climbed out of the car.
I followed him into the hospital we soon split ways to go to their rooms. When I reached Milo's room I made the decision to knock knowing his Mum would most likely not be happy if I just barged in. Although I made sure my knock was light so I wouldn't wake anyone up.
The door was opened by Milo's mum who told me to come in but she had a frown on her face at the sight of me. She still blamed me for Milo being taken but when we called her saying we got Milo back she thanked us, so I wasn't sure whether she liked me or not at the moment.
Milo had the table in front of him with a plate of food as I walked closer I noticed he hadn't eaten much. He had a spoon in his hand which he dipped into the plain yogurt. I sat in the chair I was in yesterday looking at him with a smile. He slowly put the small spoon full in his mouth before dipping it back in the plastic pot.
"Well done sweetie." His mum smiled at him.
He suddenly gagged and heaved. His mum placed a brown cardboard bowl in front of him which he threw up into. I frowned watching as his mum rubbed his back soothingly and Milo hunched forward and groaned.
He soon stopped vomiting and just remained hunched over while he took some deep breaths.
"He started throwing up last night." Gianna told me. "The doctors aren't sure why but they're worried he has an internal infection, they also keep checking that this isn't opening his stitches."
She moved the cardboard bowl away from him placing it on the floor once he sits up straight again.
"It's unfortunate because he's not eating much to begin with and now he's throwing it up." She sighed. "I'll go get the nurse."
Milo moved his arm slowly to reach for his drink he almost knocked it over but managed to pick it up and take a sip to clean out his mouth.
His hands shook as he went to put it down and he almost spilled it on himself so I took it from him placing it down for him. He picked up the spoon again slowly continuing to eat the yogurt.
Watching him eat this slowly was unusual, Milo eats quite a lot and he eats fast. Even faster than me and I'm a werewolf.
A nurse walked in and I recognized him, his names Eric. He walked over with a slight frown sparing me a quick glance. I had assigned him to Milo because I knew he was a good nurse.
"Sick again?" He looked at Milo.
Milo looked down tapping the spoon against the plate obnoxiously.
"We're going to have to run some more tests to find out what's going on." He looked between me and Milo's mum. He grabbed a thermometer from a draw on the far side of the room measuring Milo's temperature quickly. "Well you're temperatures back to normal so that's good."
"He had a fever last night too." Gianna told me once she saw my confused expression.
Milo just continued to tap his spoon faster now. Gianna looked at the spoon irritated but didn't say anything before her eyes widened and she turned to the nurse.
"Could it be because he hasn't taken his medication?" She asked in realization.
"Well I'm going to need to know what medication since we don't have access to the patient information kept in human hospitals." Eric said picking up the clipboard at the end of the bed.
"Uh, he takes medication for his ADHD and he has antidepressants." She told him.
So this is what Lucy had not been telling me, that Milo has ADHD and depression.
"Do you know the specific medication and dosage he's on?" Eric asked as he wrote.
"Oh." She thought for a moment. "Methyl something and Citalopram. I think he has 20 mg of Citalopram."
"Methylphenidate." He corrected her. "Okay well sometimes when people stop taking antidepressants too quickly, like Milo has through no fault of his own, they can get withdrawal symptoms such as vomiting and fevers."
I listened to the nurse intently while also reaching to hold Milo's free hand. Eric explained that they would start giving him his usual dosage as soon as possible and that all the symptoms will go away soon. Eric walked away to talk to the doctor about Milo's medication.
"See this is good." Gianna said to Milo.
He lifted his head staring at her blankly before shaking his head and returning to the food.
"No?" She questioned. "Do you not want to go back on your medication?"
He shrugged eating a spoonful of yogurt.
"You know how you are without them Milo." She continued. "Actually you're a lot like how you are now."
So Milo acts like this when he's off his medication? Milo usually appears to be quiet laid back apart from the odd occasion when someone makes him mad.
"Um Lincoln can you stay with him while I go home and get some clothes and feed the dog." She asked me. "I got Marco to feed Buddy up until now but he's busy at work this morning."
"That's fine, I was planning on staying for a while anyway." I replied.
"Aren't you going to see your mother at some point?" She asked confused.
Milo's head snapped up to here my reply, it was the fastest I've seen him move since he woke up.
"No, she won't let me in her room at the moment." I replied. "Only female doctors and my dad can go in. Although my dad did say she asked to see Milo."
"Yes." Milo spoke, his voice croaky.
Gianna and I looked at him with wide eyes.
"I'll tell the nurses that you want to see her on my way out." Gianna then went on to say goodbye to her son before leaving.
"So what did Lucy leave you?" I asked gesturing to the backpack. "Can I look though it?"
He nodded seemingly going back to not talking, I didn't really mind because it was still progress.
I reached to grab the bag at the end of the bed placing it on my lap to look through it. Milo leaned over to see the contents also.
"Oh you haven't seen it yet? I'll show you what's in here." I told him.
I showed him the Rubiks cube, a coloring book, a photo album and a book.
I pulled out a basketball jersey holding it up. "I'm gonna guess this is yours." I said when I turned it around to see his last name on the back.
He nodded reaching to take it from me, he placed it down on his lap looking down at it with a frown. I glanced at the cast on his leg realizing what he was thinking. I was going to reassure him about it but I couldn't find the words, what could I say? He wasn't going to be able to play again.
A nurse walked in with a wheelchair. "You can see Bella now."
Milo lifted his head and turned to look at her before slowly moving so his legs were hanging off the bed. The nurse moved the wheelchair to the side of the bed. I helped move him into the chair while the nurse held it steady. I made sure not to apply to much pressure to him so I could avoid hurting him.
The nurse wheeled out of the room while I followed them, she lead us to where I knew my mum's room was. I knocked on the door for the nurse.
My dad opened it after a few moments, he looked at me surprised.
"Lincoln what are you doing here?" He glanced behind me at the nurse and then Milo. "Milo, Bella would love to see you."
"Sir why don't you wait out here, so not to overwhelm her." The nurse suggested looked at my dad.
"Of course." He nodded stepping into the hallway while they wheeled Milo into the room.
"How's Milo?" My dad asked once they had closed the door.
"Well apparently he had a fever and was throwing up all of last night." I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "They thought that he had an infection but now they think that it might be withdrawal symptoms from his antidepressants."
My dad nodded. "Well hopefully they'll figure it out soon. Throwing up can't be helping his weight, he looks too skinny."
"Yeah." I agreed with him. "He spoke today though which is good."
"What did he say?" He asked curiously.
"He said yes in response to whether he wanted to see mum or not." I told to which he smiles lightly.
"I think it's important they spend time together, them two are the only ones who are going to understand what the other is going through." My dad stared at the closed door.
"They've been through a lot." I nodded.
He looked slightly uncomfortable before he spoke again. "Uh, do you know how much yet?"
My eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean?"
"I just mean because I know that they've-" He paused and took a deep breath. "Sexually assaulted your mum but I wasn't sure if you knew if they had to Milo or not."
That was one of the biggest things I was scared of, I had no idea whether or not they raped Milo. I knew how big of an impact rape had on my mum and could only imagine Milo would suffer the same way she does. As he doesn't talk I had no way of knowing, and I could tell he was in no position for anyone to start asking him questions about what happened.
"I don't know." I sighed. "I'm just hoping that because of how homophobic they are they wouldn't have done anything."
"Let's hope." My dad patted my shoulder.
It was nice seeing my dad somewhat back to normal. Sure he was tired and stressed about my mum but he was no longer breaking down and shouting out in pain.
Speaking of back to normal Victoria walked down the hallway towards us her heels clicking against the tiled floor. Her foundation was caked on her face, her lips painted a bright red. She wore a tight white skirt and a pink crop top, in other words completely inappropriate attire for a hospital. I hadn't seen her since coming back from Idaho so this was a nice, well as nice as seeing Victoria can get.
"You're dressed like you're going to a party not visiting your mother in hospital." I crossed my arms.
"Oh shush." She rolled her eyes. "You're not my dad."
"Yeah but I am, and I disapprove." Dad spoke up.
"Mum wouldn't." She insisted. "She would say I looked cute, I'm dressing up for her."
"And any hot doctors you find." I muttered.
She glared at me. "Shut up."
I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Oh very mature Mr Alpha." She retorted flicking her hair over her shoulder.
I was ready to bite back at her but the nurse opened the door stepping out, we all immediately looked over at her.
"He's talking and she's allowing physical contact." She told us making everyone smile. "This is great progress."